Programmatic resetting of circuit breakers

Abstract

In a system, method and program for monitoring and control of a circuit having a circuit breaker, circuit profile information characterizing the circuit is used to determine a reset strategy for resetting of the circuit breaker when it becomes tripped. The circuit profile information may include an identification of any devices connected along the circuit, and may further include device profile information characterizing such devices. An embodiment of the method includes detecting that the circuit breaker has tripped, receiving device profile information from a device connected along the circuit, using the device profile information to formulate a reset strategy for the circuit breaker, and sending a command as part of implementing the reset strategy. An embodiment of the system includes a system controller operably coupled to the circuit and the circuit breaker, where the system controller is adapted to use circuit profile information to determine a reset strategy.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method of responding to a tripped circuit breaker, said method comprising: 
       receiving circuit profile information characterizing the circuit governed by the circuit breaker; and  
       determining a reset strategy for resetting of the circuit breaker using the circuit profile information.  
     
     
       2. The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting one or more commands to implement the reset strategy. 
     
     
       3. The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the circuit profile information comprises an identification of one or more devices connected along the circuit. 
     
     
       4. The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said one or more devices comprise an appliance or a light. 
     
     
       5. The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the circuit profile information further comprises device profile information for each of the one or more devices. 
     
     
       6. The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the device profile information comprises an amount of current drawn by the corresponding device at a time just prior to tripping of the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       7. The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said device profile information comprises a device restart priority characterizing the importance of restarting the corresponding device. 
     
     
       8. The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said device profile information comprises a device restart time interval characterizing a required time interval before an attempted restart of the corresponding device. 
     
     
       9. The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the circuit profile information is stored on a storage medium prior to tripping of the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       10. The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining the circuit profile information prior to said using the circuit profile information, wherein said obtaining the circuit profile information comprises sending a query to a device connected along the circuit. 
     
     
       11. The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the circuit profile information comprises a history of previous trippings of the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       12. A system for controlling a circuit having a circuit breaker, said system comprising: 
       means for receiving circuit profile information characterizing the circuit; and  
       means for determining a reset strategy for resetting the circuit breaker when it is tripped, wherein the circuit profile information is used in said determining.  
     
     
       13. The system as recited in  claim 12 , wherein said means for receiving and means for determining comprise a system controller. 
     
     
       14. The system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the circuit profile information comprises device profile information, and the system controller comprises: 
       a processor;  
       a transmitter adapted to send a query to a device connected along the circuit;  
       a receiver adapted to receive device profile information from the device; and  
       a storage medium adapted to store the device profile information.  
     
     
       15. The system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the storage medium is further adapted to store program instructions executable for implementing the reset strategy. 
     
     
       16. The system as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a device controller coupled to the circuit and to a device connected along the circuit, wherein the device controller is adapted to receive a query or command from the system controller. 
     
     
       17. The system as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the device controller comprises: 
       a processor;  
       a receiver adapted to receive a query or command from the system controller;  
       a transmitter adapted to send device profile information to the system controller; and  
       a storage medium adapted to store the device profile information.  
     
     
       18. The system as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the device profile information comprises a history of power drawn by the device. 
     
     
       19. The system as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the device profile information comprises a device restart priority characterizing the importance of restarting the device. 
     
     
       20. The system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the system controller is located in a building separate from that of the circuit. 
     
     
       21. A computer-usable carrier medium comprising circuit profile information characterizing a circuit governed by a circuit breaker, wherein the circuit profile information includes information relevant to resetting the circuit breaker when it becomes tripped. 
     
     
       22. The carrier medium as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the circuit profile information comprises a history of previous trippings of the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       23. The carrier medium as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the circuit profile information comprises device profile information characterizing a device connected along the circuit. 
     
     
       24. The carrier medium as recited in  claim 23 , wherein the device profile information comprises a device restart time interval characterizing a required time interval before an attempted restart of the device. 
     
     
       25. The carrier medium as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising program instructions executable for resetting the circuit breaker when tripped, according to a reset strategy determined using the circuit profile information. 
     
     
       26. A method for controlling a circuit governed by a circuit breaker, said method comprising: 
       detecting that the circuit breaker has tripped;  
       receiving device profile information from a device connected along the circuit;  
       using the device profile information to formulate a reset strategy for the circuit breaker; and  
       sending a command as a part of implementing the reset strategy.  
     
     
       27. The method as recited in  claim 26 , further comprising sending a query to the device, prior to said receiving. 
     
     
       28. The method as recited in  claim 26 , wherein the device comprises the circuit breaker, and the device profile information comprises a history of previous trippings of the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       29. The method as recited in  claim 26 , wherein said sending a command comprises sending a command to reset the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       30. The method as recited in  claim 26 , wherein said sending a command comprises sending a command to turn off the device. 
     
     
       31. The method as recited in  claim 26 , wherein said sending a command comprises transmitting an alert requesting manual intervention. 
     
     
       32. The method as recited in  claim 26 , wherein said detecting comprises receiving a signal from the circuit breaker. 
     
     
       33. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising: 
       first program instructions executable using a processor for detecting that a circuit breaker in communication with the processor has tripped;  
       second program instructions executable using the processor for receiving device profile information from a device connected along a circuit governed by the circuit breaker;  
       third program instructions executable using the processor for using the device profile information to formulate a reset strategy for the circuit breaker; and  
       fourth program instructions executable using the processor for sending a command as a part of implementing the reset strategy.